It’s been about a month since Michele Bachmann burst upon the 2012 presidential race in that CNN debate in New Hampshire. But Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin says Bachmann’s rise has been years in the making, and isn’t the least bit surprised at the popularity of her former House colleague.

Fallin and Bachmann were elected to Congress for the first time together in 2006, when they were the only two women in the GOP freshman class.

“From the very beginning, she has always been a person who engaged in Congress, who participated in committees, certainly was well read and learned the issues, was never shy about speaking out on things that she thought were important to our nation. And she’s a hard worker,” Fallin told POLITICO at the National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City.

“I started seeing signs back in Oklahoma about three years ago, before she was even thinking about running for president, where conservative citizens who were not necessarily well versed in politics were asking me about Congresswoman Bachmann and liking her politics,” Fallin said. “So I’m not surprised that she’s got off to a good lead in popularity with the American public.”

Fallin said she isn’t ready to endorse in the presidential race, or even narrow her list of 2012 options, but she predicted that her neighboring governor, Rick Perry of Texas, would be a “very strong presidential candidate” if he chooses to run.

“He has one of the strongest economies in the nation, one that many other states admire and look towards. He’s also done some great reform efforts related to lawsuit reform, workers’ compensation reform,” she said. “He’s created the most amount of jobs of any state in the nation. And he’s worked through a very tough budget deficit. So he certainly would be a very qualified candidate to run for president. Whether he does or not, we will see.”